WHY I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS MOST RECENT HEARTFELT TALK WITH TOM EVANS.
Every now and then, if we are truly blessed, someone wonderful comes into our life when we least expect it and we are never the same again. And that is what happened to me in November 2013 and that person was Tom Evans.
Tom is known as a modern day mystic, a healer, a 21st century philosopher, a temporal alchemist, and the wizard of light bulb moments. To me, he is a teacher, a mentor, and a friend.
In early December 2020, I had the delightful experience of another conversation with Tom, as he says about listening to the recording of us afterward, “like two friends snugged up in the corner of a pub, sipping wine and beer and having a good old natter.” It is 45 minutes in length and further down his podcast page you’ll find the links to our earlier interviews about “Retiring, Rewiring, Refiring” and “Rewrite Your Life.”
Tom has a way of drawing out the best in his guests with thoughtful questions and comments. We talked about writing and exploring how our lives matter, and how we transform by writing our stories without judgement. How we continue to unfold. Current and upcoming projects! He also honoured me with reading some of his creative writing!
I can’t wait to turn the tables and interview Tom in January! He will be my first guest for my inaugural 2021 podcast YourLifeMatters! I’m tickled pink about that!
You can find Tom Evans at http://www.tomevans.co/
Further to “Retiring, Rewiring, Refiring”~
It was my friend and colleague, Dr. Melba Burns, http://inspirationwomen.com/ who coined the phrase: Don’t Retire, ReFIRE! and I couldn’t agree with her more. In fact, she will soon be releasing her book with the same title.
I don’t know about you, but as a baby-boomer—or as a self-appointed Zoomer—I know that retirement is more about a state of mind than a stage of life. Still, that state of mind isn’t always easily accessible when I look in the mirror and say, “Who’s that?”
I have had many conversations with people in my age range and older. First of all, most of us are saying, “Holy Moly, when did that happen?” Obviously when we weren’t looking. None of us can believe how fast the time has gone. Many of us are questioning our new identity that has been creeping up on us all along. Now we are here and where is the manual that is going to help us move through this time gracefully?
I was 17 years old when the Beatles came out with their famous song “When I’m Sixty-Four.” As far as I was concerned, it was a fun song to sing and had nothing to do with me. Sixty-four was light-years away! I figured I will cross that bridge when I come to it. And it feels like I just blinked and that proverbial bridge is outside my door waiting for me to cross it with grace. The bridge from youth to non-youth. Some will simply call it “old age.” Yuck!
This year, I received my OAS: Old Age Security pension. I appreciate the adjunct to my income but can’t they call it something else? Such as, RFYC – Reward for Your Contributions, or TWAF—The Wisdom Allotment Fund. Or better still, WHOEF—We Honour Our Elders Fund. Anything other than Old Age pension.
I remember my very wise mother once saying to me, “Junie, you are never old when you are happy.” She said it after I was insulted (or took it as such) on a subway train in Korea when an old drunk man (immaculately dressed, by the way) looked right at me and asked, “How old are you?”
I said, “None of your damn business!” My partner, who was shocked (I even surprised myself) and holding onto the rail in the speeding subway car beside me, said, “What did you say that for? He just wants to know how to talk to you.” I found out that in Korea there is another language that is used for people over a certain age—not sure what that age is—spoken as a sign of respect. Perhaps I over-reacted, but it came on the heels of a new, YOUNG Korean friend, when I told her about having an older sister, she responded with, “Oh, my, is she still alive?” I was 52 at the time.
Back to my mother’s comment—“Junie, you are never old when you are happy”—it seemed to belie her earlier wisdom. She stopped being happy when her looks no longer brought her the attention they did in her youth. She had been very beautiful.
Sadly, somewhere in her 60s or 70s, she admitted that she couldn’t stand what she looked like and it became a source of her depression and isolation. She felt washed up, invisible. She had no tools on how to re-wire and re-fire.
And here’s the point—she is not the only one. How many other older people think less of themselves because they are no longer young and feel lost? How many are walking around in a dark cloud wondering what to do next and how?
Well, it’s far from over. It can be a brand new exciting beginning!
Our age does not define us. How we think of it does.
Rewire our minds and then fan the flames of transformation to live out our life with new meaning, passion and purpose.